Showing posts with label animal. Show all posts
Showing posts with label animal. Show all posts

Monday, March 28, 2011

Little snowy plover, Point Reyes National Seashore

Western snowy plover in Point Reyes - Pat Ulrich Wildlife Photography

Just a quick post of this cute little snowy plover sitting in the sands of Limantour Beach in Point Reyes National Seashore. This shot is from an awesome hike I took along the beach last November, when I was able to spend time with a group of western snowy plovers, a different group of semipalmated plovers, and huge flocks of mixed sandpipers.

Monday, March 21, 2011

Preening shoveler drake, Radio Road Ponds

Preening northern shoveler - Pat Ulrich Wildlife Photography

Three poses of this handsome northern shoveler drake preening. There was plenty of posturing between males when a female would swim by, so I'm sure he wanted to look his best.

Tail feathers - Pat Ulrich Wildlife Photography

Preening shots can be really interesting since they show off the bird in a different light than just when it's posing, and for shovelers, it can really highlight the pretty colors they have on their wings. I liked how he had the tail feathers splayed out in the above shot, and his eye is just barely visible in the bottom one has he combs through his wing.

Preening shoveler drake - Pat Ulrich Wildlife Photography

Sunday, March 20, 2011

Flock of avocets, Radio Road Ponds

Flock of American avocets - Pat Ulrich Wildlife Photography

As I was sitting along the edge of the pond, a large flock of avocets flew a lap over the water and then headed straight for me. What a pleasure it was to have 50+ birds land right in front of me. They are such lovely shorebirds, especially once they transition to their full summer colors.

Saturday, March 19, 2011

Shoveler stretch, Radio Road Ponds

Stretching northern shoveler - Pat Ulrich Wildlife Photography

Northern shovelers are one of my favorite duck species, with their pretty coloration and that oversized bill. Radio Road Ponds in Redwood Shores is a great place to watch them in the winter. They tend to be skittish towards a human approaching the pond, but if you pick a spot and camp out there for a while, they'll eventually warm up to your presence and you can watch them at fairly close range. This particular male preened for quite a while and gave me a handful of chances to get some wing-flap shots.

Tuesday, March 15, 2011

Plover in the Spotlight, Pillar Point Harbor

Black-bellied plover at sunset - Pat Ulrich Wildlife Photography

I spent over an hour with this single black-bellied plover as it combed the shoreline looking for a late meal. We were along the edge of the water inside of the harbor, and eventually the sun sank low enough to be mostly blocked by the seawall behind me. This left us in a world of cool blue tones, except for a few rays of light that were still shining through from low-points in the wall. The plover was eyeing something up in the sand as it walked into one of these rays, which gave me a nice opportunity to capture it bathed in warm sunshine against the cool, shaded background.

Submitted to World Bird Wednesday -- click the link to see this week's submissions!

Monday, March 14, 2011

Western Grebe on Rippled Water, Pillar Point Harbor

Western Grebe on Rippled Water -- Pat Ulrich Wildlife Photography

A western grebe swimming through striped reflections in Pillar Point Harbor near Half Moon Bay. This shot is from last November, but this is in honor of the pair of grebes that we saw doing their mating dance at the Berkeley Marina recently. It's a spectacle that I've wanted to witness ever since I saw it on Life of Birds. While I didn't get a chance to photograph it this time (it happened quickly and too far off) it was cool to see the birds mimicing each other's movements, and then take off together to "run" on the water!

Friday, March 11, 2011

Singing red-winged blackbird, Berkeley Marina

Singing blackbird at Berkeley Marina - Pat Ulrich Wildlife Photography

The blackbirds are starting to make a real ruckus, which must mean that spring is just around the corner! These are two shots from an evening walk at Cesar Chavez Park at the Berkeley Marina. At least two burrowing owls are still there, although we couldn't find the third that we had seen earlier in the season. Perhaps it was just below ground, or maybe it has left for the summer.

Red-winged blackbird calling from the branches - Pat Ulrich Wildlife Photography

Thursday, March 10, 2011

American kestrel, Point Reyes National Seashore

Here are three more shots from my wonderful encounter with this lovely kestrel in Point Reyes National Seashore last month. I posted some others a few weeks ago with the overcast sky as the backdrop, but since this particular female was so cooperative, I was able to get some shots with a more colorful setting too.

Friendly kestrel in Point Reyes - Pat Ulrich Wildlife Photography

Here's a similar pose, but with her tail feathers showing.

Kestrel in Point Reyes with tail showing - Pat Ulrich Wildlife Photography

I'm not sure what caught her eye for this one, but it makes for an interesting pose, especially with the catchlight in her eye.

Sideways glance from female kestrel - Pat Ulrich Wildlife Photography

Wednesday, March 9, 2011

Prowling plover, Pillar Point Harbor

Prowling black-bellied plover - Pat Ulrich Wildlife Photography

A black-bellied plover hunting for worms in the sand at Pillar Point Harbor on Half Moon Bay. There was surprisingly little in the way of birds along the shoreline on this particular evening, but I did manage to make a tentative friendship with this plover. After watching it pluck a number of worms from the sand before sunset, I was able to work my way in close and gain its trust. I followed it up and down the beach a number of times as it ran back and forth, and on a few occasions it came so close that I couldn't keep the whole bird in the frame. No complaints here though -- it's always a pleasure to have the chance to spend some quality time with a shorebird!

Black-bellied plover - Pat Ulrich Wildlife Photography

Tuesday, March 8, 2011

Turnstone in kelp, Pillar Point Harbor

Black turnstone in kelp - Pat Ulrich Wildlife Photography

Reaching into the archives after a busy week of traveling, here are two shots of a black turnstone in the intertidal area of Pillar Point Harbor at low tide from last August. I've had so many interesting settings in which to photograph shorebirds there, from seagrass to bulbous pods, and the red color of this kelp really makes for a unique foreground, I think.

Black turnstone at Pillar Point Harbor - Pat Ulrich Wildlife Photography

Submitted to World Bird Wednesday -- follow the link to see this week's submissions!

Sunday, February 27, 2011

Frosty sparrow, Tennessee Valley

With the extra cold weather this weekend in the Bay Area, I figured I'd take a walk in Tennessee Valley with the hope of seeing some wildlife in the frosted meadows. Unfortunately, nothing was stirring in the early morning light except for some sparrows along the trail.

Frosty sparrow

Perhaps it was singing about how cold its feet were!

Singing about the cold

Saturday, February 26, 2011

Bobcat among the branches, Tennessee Valley

Bobcat in stride, Tennessee Valley - Pat Ulrich Wildlife Photography

When this bobcat decided to go off trail for a bit, it made the photography a little more challenging, since it was wandering through an area with a lot of dead vegetation. But I stayed patient and waiting for the moments that its head was in a clearing to try to get an unobstructed view of its eyes. It's amazing how much of the clutter in an image your mind will ignore if you can get contact with a clean set of eyes.

Lynx rufus among the branches - Pat Ulrich Wildlife Photography

It was cruising along when it heard something in the undergrowth. It just happened to stop right in a clear line of sight for me, and even gave me a glance before continuing its walk.

Focused bobcat - Pat Ulrich Wildlife Photography

Friday, February 25, 2011

Great horned owl in Tennessee Valley

We spotted this great horned owl sitting along the trail watching the hikers go by near the lagoon in Tennessee Valley. It really blended in quite well with the rocks, so it's easy to see why it selected what could otherwise have been a conspicuous perch.

Great horned owl in Tennessee Valley - Pat Ulrich Wildlife Photography

Great horned owls seem to be pretty common in the park, and I guess that's no surprise since there are plenty of rodents in the meadows. It's a lot of fun if you plan to be walking the trail around sunset, since they really start to make a racket in both the eucalyptus trees and the willows. We even saw a pair mating as we were walking out that evening! We heard two hoots coming right after another from the same location, and as we searched for the source, it was pretty easy to find once the feathers started fluttering!

Great horned owl - Pat Ulrich Wildlife Photography

We watched this one for a while, and pointed it out to many hikers who were curious about what my big lens was pointed at. I was happy also to get some frames of it preening. My wife laughed and said that most people would be more excited to get it with its head showing, but I like to capture their everyday behaviour as well.

Owl preening - Pat Ulrich Wildlife Photography

Thursday, February 24, 2011

Bobcat in the bushes, Tennessee Valley

Three shots from our weekend encounter with this lovely bobcat in Tennessee Valley. After finishing its meal and strolling down the trail for a bit, the bobcat decided to take a break in the bushes just off of the trail. There were a lot of branches around, but thankfully it picked a spot where I could shoot over the coyote brush to get an unobstructed view of its face.

Wild cat eye contact

They are such beautiful animals, and they seem to carry themselves as if they know it. This one looked quite regal, even with its eyes closed.

Bobcat at rest - Pat Ulrich Wildlife Photography

The cat was eventually brought out of its restful trance by a small white dog following its master down the trail. The shot below is of it eyeing up the dog as it passed -- we were able to watch it turn its head to follow the progress of the fluffy canine. I'm not even sure that the owner knew there was a cat in the bushes, but you could tell that the cat was contemplating if it was worth taking a run at it.

Bobcat stare - Pat Ulrich Wildlife Photography

Wednesday, February 23, 2011

Western snowy plover, Point Reyes National Seashore

Snowy plovers are one of my favorite subjects to photograph, and Limantour Beach in Point Reyes National Seashore is a great place to find them. I took this series of images under a heavily overcast sky, but by dialing in some extra exposure, it almost looks like they were in a snowy landscape.

Western snowy plover, Point Reyes National Seashore - Pat Ulrich Wildlife Photography

I like the attitude this bird is showing in this shot, with that foot raised while its calling out. I also thought that the straight on view is an interesting way to see them.

Calling snowy plover, Point Reyes National Seashore - Pat Ulrich Wildlife Photography

The next two shots unfortunately didn't come out sharp, but I thought the captured behavior was interesting enough to share. In this shot it's preparing for a strike at an unseen prey item.

Looking for a snack, Point Reyes - Pat Ulrich Wildlife Photography

And in this frame, it lunged through my plane of focus (you can see the tail feathers are sharp) to catch a small critter for lunch.

Snowy plover with prey, Point Reyes - Pat Ulrich Wildlife Photography

Tuesday, February 22, 2011

Female American Kestrel, Point Reyes National Seashore

Female American Kestrel - Pat Ulrich Wildlife Photography

I had an amazing trip to Point Reyes National Seashore on Saturday. When I went to sleep the night before, the forecast was calling for 30% chance of rain, but by the time I woke up at 5:25 am, it had been increased to 50%. I was too excited about actually getting out in the morning to be deterred, but I quickly thought it might have been a mistake as it started pouring just as I was driving into the park. Thankfully though, the worst of the rain lasted for only the first hour after sunrise, and a nice overcast sky was left behind for the rest of the morning.

American Kestrel in Point Reyes National Seashore - Pat Ulrich Wildlife Photography

While I didn't really see any wildlife while it was raining, I saw a lot of species after it stopped. I guess it was the first time that it was dry for a few days, and the animals were ready to find a meal. I found this lovely female kestrel on a fence post along Pierce Point Road as I was driving back from the Tule Elk Reserve on Tomales Point. I love to see these small and gorgeous birds of prey, but I've never really had a good look at one, since they always fly off long before I get close, and certainly before I can get my lens on one. This particular bird was feeling generous though, and gave me at least 5 good minutes of her time before heading off to a fencepost that was further back in the landscape.

Kestrel showing talons - Pat Ulrich Wildlife Photography

What a treat to get to photograph this lovely bird at such close range! This post has a selection of shots from the perch she took where I had the sky as a backdrop, and I have a few others to put up in another post with a green hillside as the background.

Submitted to the World Bird Wednesday blog meme -- follow the link to check out this week's submissions!

Monday, February 21, 2011

My wife's first bobcat encounter, Tennessee Valley

Bobcat in Tennessee Valley - Pat Ulrich Wildlife Photography

After many hikes in the Bay Area looking for bobcats, my wife finally had her first encounter yesterday! I've been fortunate to see them on a handful of occasions, but only ever on trips that I had taken alone (including a brief view of one in Point Reyes National Seashore on Saturday). My wife has really wanted to see one, and she finally got her chance in Tennessee Valley. We had a fantastic encounter, including watching it finish eating a rodent then take a pounce at another, as well as cleaning itself after the meal and wandering through the brush. A nice first experience for sure! Strangely enough, her first sight of one in the wild came on the 1st anniversary of my first bobcat sighting. Since she was quite excited about seeing this beautiful cat, I let her pick which image I should post first. She thought this one was funny with the cat sticking its tongue out at us :)